Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Te Rūnanga passed a resolution at its annual hui-ā-tau rejecting “the attack of the Government” on the nursing regulator.
NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku told Kaitiaki that the vote at the Tāmaki Makaurau gathering was unanimous and one of the strongest statements sent out of hui-ā-tau ever.
“What happened is that it was actually brought up from the floor — about the Government overreach and the protection of cultural safety and the whakapapa of Irihapeti’s (Ramsden’s) work.”
The kōrero brought up deep concern — especially from students — about the erosion of cultural safety, Nuku said.
She said they wanted to send a strong message that Māori nurses were upset by the Government’s actions — and Māori being used again as a political battering ram in election year.
“Because when people look at cultural safety they immediately think it’s Māori being advantaged, as opposed to the fact that this is about providing quality of care in a quality-of-care framework.”
Health Minister Simeon Brown’s gutting of the Nursing Council board has led to a raft of resignations from respected and experienced members of the Council’s executive, she said. This included the chief executive, the chief nursing education advisor and two legal advisors.
Nuku said since last year Brown had replaced eight existing members of the board — despite four of them wanting to stay on. Of the remaining four, two internationally qualified nurses resigned in protest and the other two members did not seek reappointment.
There was a strong contingent of Māori nursing students at hui-ā-tau talking about the impact of racism on their training and ability to graduate, said Nuku.
“There was despair from the students, there were many saying ‘I’m not even looking at staying in New Zealand’.”
Many were already looking at Australia for mahi, which had support, training and pathway packages — only considering a return, once they were skilled practitioners, to work with their whānau in Aotearoa.
“The cultural safety element triggered a lot of wider impacts and discussion.”
The Nursing Council mirrored changes at the Medical Council, which Brown had admitted were made because of what he claimed was their ideological agenda, Nuku said.
This month Kaitiaki reported on then-chief executive Catherine Byrne’s resignation. Her departure followed that of chief education advisor Annette Huntington and senior legal advisors Clare Prendergast and Nick Davis — who were both part of the executive leadership team.
Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa resolution
That this NZNO hui, the biggest gathering of Māori nurses, kaimahi, kaiāwhina and tauira in Aotearoa New Zealand:
- Strongly rejects the attack of the Government on the Nursing Council.
- In particular on the governance structure, Council members and the impacts on Nursing Council staff.
This hui in particular does not and never will accept cultural safety being used as a political football to attack Māori.
Māori nurses and tauira stand united with NZNO in their opposition to these changes and the proposed amendments to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act that will sacrifice patient safety for political direction.